Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denied the president’s move to implement a pause on his tariffs was the result of declines in the financial markets, which have been causing great concern for investors.
The comments came after the president issued a pause Wednesday for 75 different countries, which, according to the Trump administration, have shown a willingness to negotiate trade deals in good faith with the United States. Simultaneously, the Trump administration increased its tariff rates on Chinese goods to 125%, which came after China imposed tariffs of its own in response to Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff increase last week.
“This was driven by the president’s strategy. He and I had a long talk on Saturday and this was his strategy all along,” Bessent responded when asked if the tariff pause was the result of market declines. The Treasury Secretary also cited an “imbalance” in the responses from various countries, particularly China, in regard to their willingness to negotiate new trade deals.
TRUMP URGES AMERICANS TO ‘HANG TOUGH’ ON TARIFFS PLAN AS MARKETS TUMBLE
“It is just a processing problem,” Bessent said when asked if the market whiplash was a catalyst for the pause. “Each one of these solutions is going to be bespoke. It is going to take some time, and President Trump wants to be personally involved, so that’s why we are hitting the 90-day pause.”
Meanwhile, Bessent questioned claims from reporters that the bond market was “cratering” and said the information in front of him did not indicate as much. Trump, who also fielded questions Wednesday about the market volatility following his tariffs, similarly described the current bond market as “beautiful.”
“I saw last night where people were getting a little queasy,” Trump told reporters Wednesday about his view on the market declines in relation to his tariffs. “[Markets] went from, you know, pretty moderate today, but over the last few days, it looked pretty glum, to, I guess, they say it was the biggest day in financial history. That’s a pretty big change.”
“I think the word would be flexible,” Trump added. “You have to be flexible.”
WHITE HOUSE ADDRESSES RECESSION FEARS, CALLS MARKET VOLATILITY A ‘PERIOD OF TRANSITION’
Stocks did jump back up on Tuesday before sliding back down once again before the markets closed that evening. However, on Wednesday, as Trump made his announcement about the tariff pauses, stocks rallied again, with the S&P 500 seeing its best day since 2008, according to Market Watch.
Over the weekend, the president told Americans concerned about the ongoing market volatility to “hang tough,” adding that his plan is already working with trillions of dollars already being poured into the U.S. economy.
“HANG TOUGH, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic,” Trump wrote Saturday in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. “We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
The White House declined to comment for this story.
Fox News’ Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
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